


The Guard

by Femke_The_Orange



Series: Guards [1]
Category: efteling
Genre: M/M, dont read this if you actually enjoy the efteling, good ending tho?, its not ok for kiddos, ok so this story is gruesome, tw: torture, written by a semi adult so im okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-10-09 09:59:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10409601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Femke_The_Orange/pseuds/Femke_The_Orange
Summary: Edun and Frederic meet while drunk. Unbeknownst to them, they set a chain of events in motion that causes so many cracks inside the system of the Guards, that eventually, rebellion seems the only option.





	1. Apple Cider

**Author's Note:**

> The biggest part of this chapter was written by Yara, as she is the one who set the story in motion! Gr8 work!

It was a free night for the guards. They were able to party at a bar until moonrise, which was apparently late in the evening. Edun, one of the most silent guards was not really into partying so he was busy reading a book outside the bar and enjoying the quietness, which was something he could accept. It wasn't long till another group came around with Frederic, the bossiest and most popular amongst the guards. He looked at the lonely guard sitting and pointed to the bar for the others. While the others shrugged he came sitting next to Edun.

"Not a festive person?"  Edun tried to keep reading but saw that Frederic took a giant mug of apple cider from Edun's side.

" That was mine.." Edun responded irritated.

"Well you seemed like you weren't gonna drink any of it, so I am taking it." Edun put down his book and tried to get back the mug but Frederic teased him by drinking it all in a few big gulps. He placed it back on the table, smirking and then laughing.

"Relax, I’ll get you a new one." He stood up and went inside. Edun felt like he was played but Frederic soon came outside with two new mugs.

"Ah, you didn't go away." He laughed. " I thought you were gonna run away as you mostly do." Frederic said while he sat down.

"I don't want to run, really. It's just that the others are obnoxious. You guys are mostly trying to show off for each other." Frederic was surprised he talked.

"I think we got off the wrong foot, I’m Edun." Frederic had to process this for a moment, but quickly realised what he said.

"O-OH , I’m Frederic." He tried to offer a handshake.

"I know." Edun replied. "You’re the popular one." He smirked. He took a chug of his drink. 

"So why are you not going inside? I mean, I am not going." Frederic shrugged.

"Because I kinda wanted to get to know you better, you seem like you could use a friend." Edun was kinda surprised Frederic would say that.

"Hey, you could ... help with training, and practice, here and there .." Frederic said,shying away a bit, seemingly awkward. Edun did the same thing, but picked up his mug. Frederic did the same.

A few drinks later they laughed a lot, talking and trying to make jokes.

"Wait, wait, I gotta show you something." Frederic said while he stood up. He dragged Edun with him while he dropped a few coins at the table. They ran towards the Belfort, to the training Area.

"Okay, okay, hold on." Frederic tried to take off his mask.

"Wait... Waaaait." Edun slurred his words."We’re not supposed to take those of..." he finished while driving off his own words.

"Whatever, I want to see the real you, so I’ll do it myself first." Frederic said while trying to make hand gestures but failing miserably. They were obviously too drunk and Edun wasn't really sure what to think of this, so he took off his mask too.

"Alright are the eyes clo-oooohhh...." Frederic stopped right away as he saw Edun without his mask. He didn’t close his eyes or even blink for 5 minutes straight. Edun was silent for a moment while blushing furiously red. He was tired and drunk, but still, Frederic fell for it. Edun’s eyes were brown and his messy brown hair looked really soft. Frederic had long blond hair, but wore it in a ponytail and his eyes were green.

" Fuck..." 

Edun was confused why Frederic looked at him like ... hold on.

" Frederic are you okay?" Frederic wasn't sure what to say.

" I think I am fine? I think need another drink." Frederick looked at the side and saw that there was some Perry was hidden underneath the crates.

"Oh shit dude, we’ve got pear cider." He took a bottle and put it on his lips. Edun took one too because,well, why not. 

They had finished two bottles already, and they kept looking at the roof. Frederic looked at Edun and moved his head slowly towards the latter . Edun was confused at what Frederic tried to do but they suddenly their lips touched. Both turned a bright red, but Frederic pushed himself over it and kissed Edun longer. Edun closed his eyes, it felt like it was right, not realizing he was drunk. The kiss was long and felt like it took forever, and they fell asleep while kissing. 

* * *

 

The next morning, as lights were flowing through the windows, they were awoken by the sound of a yelp. 

“Frederic? Is that you? What are you doing sleeping on the ground like that? And who’s the other guy?” The woman yelled at the duo. Frederic sat up with a groan. Fuck. His mask was lying next to him, and half on top of him was a man, who he could vaguely recall meeting yesterday. His head was pounding.

“Fleur… That’s you, right? Honestly, I’d like the answers as much as you do. Please, let me go back to sleep first.” he sighed, attempting to put his mask back on. Fleur let out an annoyed huff and pulled Frederic up, causing Edun to fall. 

“You’re not going back to bed, idiot. It’s morning. You better get ready for the new day.” she said with a grin. “Next time, drink a little less Perry before bed.”


	2. Rumours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rumours go around quickly.

“Did you hear? Apparently two guards have been… Kissing! And they took off their masks!”  Two guards hushed secretly. Evelijne sighed. Another rumor. That could mean nothing but trouble.

“Do you even believe this kind of bullshit? I mean, first that story about five riders, and now this shit?” Leon said to her, nodding at the two, now laughing, guards. “They’re gonna ruin someone’s reputation with things like this.” Evelijne nodded. Last night had been a lot of fun, another party, maybe it was someone’s birthday even. However, this morning, with everyone who went to it hungover, rumors were spreading like wildfire. The biggest one seemed to be the one they just overheard.

“Still though, imagine if it wasn’t a rumor. If I’m hearing it correctly, they broke at least five rules, and that’s just the ones I can think off of the top of my head.” Evelijne finally broke the silence between them. Leon nodded solemnly.

Suddenly, their peace was broken by some angry yelling in the distance. Fleur, the local suck-up, was nearly harassing another guard.

“What’s this rumor everyone is talking about?” she screamed, seemingly distressed.

“Oh no.” Leon grumbled. “Not in my squad.” he walked over to Fleur with big strides. Fleur turned around. 

“Ah, yes, Leon, just who I needed! Can you tell me what this rumor is all about?”

“Not before you tell me what you’re doing here, castle girl. And besides, you have no right attacking your coworkers like that.” he sighed. Fleur immediately let go of the guard, looking frightened at the thought of getting reprimanded. The guard looked mad, but after a telling look from Leon, he walked away, back to his post.

“Fine. He’s fine, that wasn’t an attack anyway. And it’s my morning off, actually. I can be wherever I want.” Leon sighed. There was just no reasoning with Fleur. If she felt like she had to do something, she would do it, no matter what it was. And for today, it seemed like her primary goal was to find out this meaningless rumor. She wouldn’t leave unless someone told her, and to avoid further attacks, it seemed best to just tell her.

“Geez, Fleur, calm. It’s just a rumour. Apparently two guards were kissing, without their masks. But it’s probably fake, since I can’t think of anyone stupid enough to do that, except maybe Evelijne, but she’d snog anyone. Now, could you leave us? We do actually have to work.” Fleur seemed to ponder about this for a second, and then ran off without another word, back into the city. 

“She’s a funny girl” Evelijne grinned.

“I don’t think she’s joking, Eef.” Leon turned around to walk back to his post. “She seems serious about this.”

Evelijne snickered, and leaned against the wall next to him.

“Good thing no one would actually take her seriously.”

* * *

 

“I have an important notice!” The entire room went silent. From his chair, Count Olaf looked over to the door. 

“Excuse me?”

The girl in the doorway froze. She had just fucked up big time, by entering the meeting without having herself announced or even greeting anyone, and just blurting out what she needed to say. Fleur stammered a bit, before standing up straight again.

“My apologies. That was out of place.” she said silently, making a little bow, mostly to avoid eye contact. Olaf grunted, but gave her a quick nod, allowing her to continue speaking. 

“Good morning Sir Olaf, Lady Halina, Sir Korda.” she mentally repeated that to make sure she had said it in the right order according to court and noble etiquette, and when she was certain, she continued: “I have an announcement to make concerning a rumor going around the guards as of today.” 

Korda sighed disinterested, but Olaf signed him to be quiet, and then Fleur to continue.

“Last night two of your men were found kissing, without their masks.” Halina hid her mouth behind her hand, trying not to laugh. Olaf pulled her hands away however, and glared.

“I don’t know why this seems funny to you, woman, but this could be a severe violation of several rules.” Halina pulled her hand back and faced her husband.

“Yes, but this is obviously just a rumour, Olaf. There’s no evidence, and I think this young woman merely got confused by the amount of people repeating it.” she spoke softly, obviously not aiming it at Fleur. But Fleur did hear it, and rolled her eyes at the backhanded comment. 

“I would merely consider it meaningless babble and discard it, were it not for the fact that yesterday evening, while I was walking back to my room after the party, I saw two men walking together, and they were holding hands. They were singing, too, and obviously intoxicated. Again, I would have discarded it, but the two seemed to correlate so much that I deemed it too much to be coincidence.” she finished, hands behind her back in perfect position. 

Korda turned to Olaf, and the murmured together for a while. Halina was attempting to listen in on them, but she shot the occasional smile at Fleur. The latter was getting a little impatient, and her posture was starting to slack. It was hard, after all, to stand up perfectly straight for long amounts of time, no matter how trained you  might be.

“Very well.” Count Olaf finally spoke. “This evening I will make a notice to all the squad leaders, telling them to look out for any inappropriate behaviour.” He turned to Fleur, who shot back up into the correct stance again. 

“What was your name again?” he asked. 

“Fleur, sir. Fleur van de Kooij.” she replied quickly.

“Very well, Fleur. I need you to be present as well, to see if maybe you could identify someone. Also, I’m giving you the task to tell most, if not all of the leaders who are out right now about this meeting, and write it down on the notice board. Yes?” Olaf asked. It was obviously a rhetorical question, because he didn’t expect or accept any other answer than yes. He didn’t know nor care that she wasn’t on duty anyways. 

“Uhm…. Yes sir!” Fleur made another small bow, and walked out of the room. She’d just have to tell them all about the meeting, because the notice board wasn’t something she felt like doing.

Back in the meeting hall, Halina took Olaf’s hand.

“Olaf, don’t you think you’re overreacting? It’s just a rumor.” She nearly whispered.

“No, Halina, I’m not. This kind of behaviour could seriously damage the reputation of my Guards, causing them to become some kind of throw-away joke. Besides, there are rules in place for a reason.” Halina tried to interrupt him, but he pulled his hand away. “This discussion is over. I’ve made my decision, and you’re not going to change that.” 

* * *

 

Frederic grumbled as he walked into the already packed room. All of the men in the room were chatting with each other, wondering what this sudden meeting was supposed to be about. He heard the rumor being repeated a few more times, causing his head to hurt from the flow of memories. From the other side of the room he saw Leon, sitting on a table, reading a piece of paper. Frederic walked over to him, and grabbed him by his shoulders.

“So, what are you doing on this fine evening that could be spend in so many ways but instead, is wasted here?” Leon jumped up, and snorted when he noticed it was his friend. 

“I’m trying to figure what this is all about. Did you get any message?”

“Well, I got Fleur, but she didn’t tell me anything. Didn’t know she got demoted to delivery boy though.” They both snickered at the thought of this. Fleur wouldn’t do anything that would harm her reputation, so this probably was just an act of heel licking.

“Yeah, I got Fleur too. She even had the nerve to ask me to put up the notice, as she was too busy. Yet earlier in the morning she told me she had a morning off. She did keep yapping about the weird rumor though.” Noticing his friend looked like he was in pain, Leon  got off the table to help him. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, supporting Frederic.

“I think so, yeah. I just still have a tremendous headache from last night. Can’t even remember half of what happened. Think it was a great party, and I even made some new friends, as far as I can recall.”

Leon laughed. “Didn’t think that was possible for you, new friends. After all, weren’t you already friends with everyone in the entire Guard?”

“All except Korda, who still refuses to drink a beer with me.” Frederic grinned, finishing Leon’s sentence.

A sudden silence swept over the room as Count Olaf entered. His presence filled the room with fear and anticipation. Everyone turned to look at him.

“I am sure you are all well aware why we’re here, Guards.” His voice echoed through the silent room. When most of the Guards simply stared at him, looking puzzled, he sighed. 

“For those of you who don’t; Korda, could you enlighten them?” He asked and mentioned for Korda, who had been standing behind him, to come forward. Korda didn’t speak, but he just stared at the faces of his men. This gaze gave Leon chills, leaving him uncomfortable. Frederic looked just as distressed. Finally Korda spoke. 

“Last night, two guards were acting extremely irresponsible. Not only that, they’ve broken several rules and have harmed the image of the guards by, out of all things…” Korda went silent for a moment. He took a deep breath, and looked back at his Guards.

“Kissing.” 

A snort could be heard in the room. Leon huffed. This was preposterous, wasting their time like this. Korda couldn’t honestly expect them to believe this bullshit rumor that had been going around. Within no time, the entire room was laughing and chattering, to Olaf’s annoyance. No one seemed to take this seriously, and Leon leaned back. Frederic did the same, but he looked slightly more angry than anything.

“Bro, are you okay? Isn’t it complete shit that they waste our time like this?” Leon said to him, almost being drowned out in the voices of the others.

“No, Leon, I’m mad. Because someone thought that it was a good idea to report this shit. And now someone’s gonna pay. Don’t you get it?” Frederic responded, turning his head to look at the crowd. Leon shrugged.

“I’m sure Count Olaf is intelligent enough to realize when someone is bullshitting him.” On the other end of the room, Olaf coughed to emphasize his wish for silence.  

“I can assure you, men, I would’ve played it off as a rumor. However, there are… Oh, how do I say this? We have an eye witness.” As on cue, Fleur walked in, her face straight and showing no emotion. However, Leon and Frederic had both known her for long enough that they knew she felt smug as fuck. Leon let out a groan.

“She did take it seriously.” He sighed to Frederic. When Frederic looked at him quizzically, Leon explained: “She asked for the rumor this morning. I told her, and then she fucked off, apparently to Count Olaf, that’s clear now.” 

Olaf continued speaking. “Miss van de Kooij here was nice enough to tell me about this. However, no one has reported with the information that we need yet; who actually did it. So, I can trust you all to ask around. If you do find this last piece of information, please, do not hesitate to tell. If I find out someone has been withholding things like this, punishment will be severe.”

Everyone was silent. The implications of the threat were clear: Grijsvalk would be circling them all for the next few weeks, until an answer was found. Olaf left the room, and Korda waved his hand, allowing everyone to leave. Fleur was about to leave too, but Frederic needed to have a word with her. He dashed through the room, grabbing the woman by her shoulders.

“What the fuck did you do.” he asked her, calm, yet the anger was seeping through and impossible to ignore. Leon came closer too, not wanting to miss this discussion.

“I did my job, Frederic. Why, are you worried?”

“Worried that someone is going to get seriously hurt over this, yes. You really should overthink your actions every once in a while.” Fleur shot him a smile.

“I don’t know, Fred. I didn’t see you at the bar last night, yet you said you would be there.” She murmured. Leon’s jaw dropped. She actually had the balls to go and accuse Frederic? 

“What?” Frederic paused as his grip on Fleur loosened. “Are you trying to get me killed?” he asked, looking incredibly shocked. Fleur shrugged. 

“Of course not, you’re still a friend. All I’m saying is that you should be careful who you disrespect, and what you say.”. She took a sidestep to get out of reach. “Also, you’re not off the hook yet. I paid attention, you really did leave rather quickly.” and with that, she speed-walked out of sight. Leon placed his hand on Frederic’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry too much about it.” 


	3. Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Important descisions need to be made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, beginning of the chapter made by Yara!

Frederic knocked on Edun’s door. He heard some mumbling inside the room and some shoving here and there.

“Edun? Are you awake?” whispered Frederic to the door while looking around if nobody was watching through the streets. The door opened. Edun was looking a bit sleepy, but still smiling, and Frederic sighed, being relieved he was okay.

“What are you doing here this late? I thought you had a task from the Count… you know, the meeting.” he yawned.

“I’ve already been there.” He said while leaning forward to Edun. “I thought you would like to come join me, have another walk through the city, maybe enjoy some alcohol?"’ He hold up a bottle of apple cider and asked for Edun’s hand. Edun grinned.

“Sure, but allow me to actually get dressed first.”

Edun clothed himself and walked around with Frederic for a while. They walked around the city, keeping an eye out if anyone was doing something they weren’t supposed to. Frederic took a glance at Edun who was just looking around the city and not really noticing the evil face Frederic was making. Suddenly, Frederic took Edun’s hand and ran for the gates of the city.

“Frederic, wait! We can’t go outside the city!” Edun panicked while Frederic opened a small door next to the gate, leading to the outside of the walls. Frederic looked at him and rubbed Edun’s  hand. “I mean what if we get noticed? Or what if we’ll be seen by Grijsvalk?” Edun continued.

“We’ll be okay, I promise, we’re just going to the inn, right?” Frederic smiled while going through the door. Edun was hesitating if he wanted to go or not, but the soothing smile of Frederic gave him enough confidence to go through too.

They both ran as fast as they could, laughing all the way through the giant fields outside the city, and accidently tripping and falling in the grass. Frederic gave a bottle to Edun while lying down to see the giant sky around them. 

“I’ve always wondered how many people actually take the time to see the stars up there.” Frederic said while pointing at the sky and taking a sip from his bottle.

Edun looked at the sky. The view was indeed amazing, as the skies were clear that night. Stars filled the darkness above, with no light pollution from the city to ruin it.

“I don’t think a lot of people do.” Edun chuckled after taking a sip.

After a while, the bottles were empty. Both of them were laughing at everything. Edun looked at Frederic, it reminded him of  yesterday. Yesterday he met Frederic for the first time and they got drunk. There were even rumors that two guards kissed, but Edun didn’t remember that. However, he realized, he didn’t remember much, so they definitely could have kissed. Putting his doubts aside, he decided to just ask Frederic what he thought.

“Do you…” Edun asked while looking up to the sky and going back to Frederic.”...think we kissed yesterday?” Frederic looked embarrassed while turning red. 

“I uh…” Frederic scratched his head while looking at Edun. “We might have?”

Edun blushed a bright shade of pink when Frederic admitted it. The alcohol was making him feel kind of fuzzy, so he sat back up.

“Didn’t you enjoy it?” Frederic asked while smirking and chuckling in between. This question shocked Edun, and he turned an even brighter shade of red.

“ … I uh…” Edun was so embarrassed he placed his hands on his face. “Yes…” he softly said while turning his back to Frederic. Frederic laughed and turned Edun back around while lifting him up. 

“I did too.” Frederic said while looking into Edun’s eyes. 

Frederic tilted his head slowly to Edun, who was doing the same, while slowly going onto their knees. Edun took off both of their masks and placed them down on the grass.

“Wait, it’s too warm in these clothes, do you have anything underneath it?” Frederic asked embarrassed.

“I’ve got a shirt under it” Edun said while looking down his chest. “If that’s okay?” He looked back up to Frederic.

“Yeah that’s fine.” He took off his jacket and Edun did the same while slowly going in for a kiss. suddenly, Frederic noticed the telltale flickering of a torch heading towards the fields. He pulled away from the kiss and immediately shot up.

“We need to go!” Frederic said while dragging everything with him. Edun looked back at him and ran towards the road. They ran and ran for a while, hoping the black of their outfits would protect them from being seen by anyone. 

When they finally arrived at the inn, they were tired and really sleepy. They put on their clothes before entering, as the cold was now setting in. Frederic threw the door open, looking mad and rather intimidating. The two of them were both wearing their hoods, to make themselves as unrecognizable as possible.

“Hello-oh…” Rombald the innkeeper was surprised to see the guards coming in. “What can I do for you sirs?” He asked worriedly. The Guards weren’t usually around his inn, they tended to go for the bars inside the city.

Frederic asked Edun to go upstairs before Rombald could even see his face, and Frederic came sitting against the bar's table while taking a bag out with gold coins. 

“I want you to not tell anyone about this, otherwise we'll tell Count Olaf personally that the innkeeper has been keeping secrets from his wealthy city.” Frederic threatened. The bartender nodded slowly and frightened, but mentally making a note of what the Guard looked like. 

“Oh, and any alcohol is welcome too.” Frederic added afterwards. The bartender handed him a bottle of cider, and Frederic went upstairs. 

Edun was half asleep when Frederic came sitting next to him.

“Frederic, we need to go back to the city tomorrow…” Edun yawned, putting his head on Frederic's shoulder.

“I'll get my horse tomorrow and bring both of us back. We’ll be back before breakfast.” Frederic sighed. Edun tilted his head and Frederic looked down at him, giving a good night kiss without them even realizing that they were kissing each other again.

“Night.” Edun sighed while turning around.

“Goodnight.” Frederic replied while looking outside the window, closing his eyes. They were safe here.

* * *

 

Evelijne dragged herself to the breakfast table, after having to deal with a night shift at the gate. Leon couldn’t find anyone else to do that shift while he went to the meeting, and Evelijne volunteered. She regretted that now. 

She sat down next to Leon, who was awake and happily chatting with some other guards. He offered her a piece of bread, and Evelijne snagged it out of his hands, chewing on it silently. Leon simply laughed at her grumpy behaviour. When she was almost done eating, the doors of the mess hall burst open, and Frederic stomped in. He looked tired, as if he hadn’t slept at all. He sat down in front of her, and almost fell asleep on his plate. Evelijne kicked him in the shins to wake him up.

“Ouch! What the fuck is wrong with you?” He nearly yelled. Evelijne managed to laugh at this. She felt a lot more energetic, now that she wasn’t the most tired person at the table anymore. 

“I’m trying to keep you up, dummy. What did you do all night?” she asked, and Leon turned around too. He had heard Frederic’s yelp of pain and was interested in what was going on. Evelijne sighed. Bad joke incoming in three… two… one…

“He probably spent the night with his lady, Eef. That’s just what we do. But looking at his face, I don’t think he scored.” Leon joked. Frederic turned bright red. “Ha! Spot on!” Leon cheered.

Frederic stayed silent, but he seemed lost in thought. Leon stared at him for a while, before turning back to his other friends. Evelijne gave Frederic a drink before getting back to her own meal. Frederic slowly brought the mug to his mouth, hands shaking. In the background chatter, people were talking about the meeting from yesterday. Suddenly he remembered something, causing him to look up at Evelijne, petrified.

“Fuck, Frederic, are you okay?” Evelijne waved her hand in front of his eyes, to make him pay attention.

“That was me…” he whispered softly.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Oh god.” Frederic seemed to have a full blown panic attack now, breathing heavily. “I kissed a guard. That was me. And I did it again.” He was still whispering, but Evelijne caught the most important part. Her mouth formed a perfect ‘O’. Leon turned around too. Apparently he had indeed been listening in, as he looked just as shocked as his partner.

Suddenly, before they could even process what happened, they heard someone choke at the other side of the room with guards standing up and trying to help one of their partners who had apparently choked on his own drink. A few guards laughed at the sight but quickly stopped and went back talking to each other about the weird meeting.

“I guess that guy is also having a rough morning.” Evelijne mumbled. Frederic looked at the choking man, and kept on staring for a little too long. Evelijne didn’t notice, but Leon did, and he quickly put two and two together. He let out a low whistle.

“Man, you picked well.” He whispered, causing Frederic to almost fall of off the bench. Evelijne looked up, at the choking guard, to Frederic and then back to Leon.

“Dude! What the fuck is wrong with you?” she said. “People are gonna get in trouble if you continue like this.” she continued, but whispered the last part to avoid being heard. 

“No one heard Frederic say the first thing anyways, calm down. Besides, no one cares enough to fuck up Frederic’s reputation.” He responded, leaning back into his chair. Frederic sat back up straight, and gave Leon the finger.

“Please don’t tell anyone, you dick, and you neither, Eef. I don’t want to get punished for something like this.” he said in a low voice.

Suddenly, someone tapped on his shoulder. He turned around to see Fleur, with bags under her eyes, mentioning for him to scoot over so she could sit at her regular spot. 

“Didn’t sleep last night, castle-girl?” Frederic said, after moving over so she could sit down. Fleur shook her head.

“Neither did you.” She responded with a blank face.

Frederic shoved some more bread into his mouth, before realizing the implications of that statement. He had never told her he didn't sleep, and it wasn’t noticeable either.

“How-”

“I think we need to have a chat, Frederic.” She said, and with a sigh, she lifted her mug to her lips. They ate the rest of their meal in tense silence. Leon and Evelijne looked at each other, trying to decide whether they should do something about it, but decided against it. If Fleur was about to do something stupid, they would stop her in time.

Frederic didn’t dare move before Fleur had finished her meal, and when she got up, she mentioned for him to follow her. Leon and Evelijne decided against following them, so they stayed in the mess hall to help clean up. Fleur walked out of the room, through the hallways. She walked fast, and knew the Belfort better than Frederic did, so he had trouble following her. Finally, she walked towards a door, and opened it, nudging her head to tell him he had to go in. The room wasn’t small, but it was obviously some kind of storage closet. When they walked in, Fleur closed the door behind them and sat down on a chest.

“What do you want from me, Fleur.” Frederic sighed. 

“I don’t  _ want  _ anything. I  _ need  _ answers.”

“You obviously already know more than you’re supposed to. By the way, how did you figure out that I didn’t sleep?” Fleur hummed. She was quite proud of herself, and it was noticeable. 

“Well, that wasn’t hard. First of all, I heard you. You were quite loud, and Fred, I’ve known you for a while now. I can recognize your voice.” Frederic cursed under his breath.

“Secondly,” Fleur continued, “Barkeepers aren’t as secretive as you think. He gave me a pretty detailed description of a man who entered with his friend and slept there overnight. Lastly, and I’m almost ashamed to say this, but man, you really should learn to lock your door. You weren’t in your room.”

Frederic was silent. He should’ve been more careful, sure, but this bitch went snooping in his room? He had to fight the urge to slap her.

“Fleur, I-... I’m sorry, okay? I did things I wasn’t supposed to. But fuck, I’ve considered you a friend for the past two years, and now you’re threatening me? I’m asking you again, what do you want?”

Fleur didn’t respond for a while, but looked at the ground. When she finally opened her mouth, she looked solemn.

“I want to tell this to Count Olaf. I want you to never do things like this again.” she said softly.

“Please, don’t, don’t you understand? I did nothing wrong, I just had a fun time! If you tell anyone, I’m most likely going to lose my job, reputation and everything I’ve worked for. Plus, you know what the Count does to disobedient citizens, Fleur, you were there with Samuel’s punishment. I’m asking you, as a friend, and as a co-worker, please, don’t.”

The room was filled with silence again. After a while of thinking, Fleur stood up.

“I’m gonna think this over during my shift, Frederic. Don’t do anything stupid.” she said, and she sounded like she genuinely cared. She opened the door and quickly walked away, leaving Frederic to his thoughts in the closet.

* * *

 

“What do I do?” Fleur was mumbling to herself. She knew it was nearly the end of her shift, and she had to report to Count Olaf afterwards. He expected results after graciously allowing her to leave the city after dark for her investigation. She did get these results, but they weren’t good. Now she had to make a decision. 

The worst part is, there was no good option. Either Frederic was going to get punished, or she would, as she was a terrible liar. The Count would figure her out within seconds. She couldn’t just betray her friend, but she also could not not betray him.

“Fuck…” Fleur took a deep breath before heading down the hallway. The punishment wouldn’t be too bad, a few days in jail at maximum, but she really didn’t wish that to Fred or to herself. As her destination became closer, she knew that she had to make her choice, and fast.

The door wasn’t large, but it felt like it was huge and imposing. Fleur felt small, but her mind was made up. If she was caught lying, both she and Frederic would end up jailed, plus, she’d probably lose her job as a traitor. She lifted her hand slowly, let out a breath, and knocked. 

“Who’s there?” came the voice from inside.

“Fleur van de Kooij, sir.” It was silent for a second, and she could hear the sound of boots nearing the door. The door opened, and Olaf mentioned for her to enter.

“I assume you’ve found something, am I correct?” He said, after closing the door. Fleur bit her lip, and took off her mask as a sign of respect. 

“Yes sir.” She said.

“Care to elaborate?”

“I’ve found out who one of the culprits is, sir.” Olaf smiled.

“That’s great news indeed.” Fleur attempted to smile back, and straightened her back. Not for the culprit itself, she thought. “So, who is it?” Olaf continued. Fleur didn’t respond until Olaf cleared his throat, making his impatience known.

“Frederic Verheij, sir.” Olaf let out a sigh at this. Fleur knew Frederic was a well-known guard with a good reputation, so she understood the sigh. She hoped this fact would also lessen any punishment that would be given to him.

“Well, that doesn’t matter. No special treatment for traitors.” Fuck. The Count was of opinion that Frederic was a traitor now? Fleur wanted to scream. This made everything so much worse.

“I hope I can entrust you with the task of finding the second culprit as well, miss Van de Kooij. You have done well.”


	4. Undivided attention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edun makes new friends, and Fleur loses some old ones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: Violence, abuse?

Frederic looked at the note that had just been pressed into his hands. It was a summoning, which didn’t surprise him. What he was more confused about was the curt way it was written.

‘Come see me.’, that was all it said. It was enough for him. He had a growing suspicion of what might have happened, and he was afraid to go. However, the guards outside the Belfort were probably already on high alert, and Grijsvalk was watching him. It seemed like he had no choice. 

On his way to Olaf’s study, he passed Fleur, who was standing at her post. She purposefully looked away to avoid Frederic’s accusing gaze. He walked on. She was not worth his time right now. When he stopped walking, he had reached the door to the study. 

“Please, Edun, be okay.” he breathed, and knocked on the big wooden door.

“Yes?”

Frederic opened the door, without stating his name first. He was already in deep shit, so why bother. 

“Ah, mister Verheij. How nice of you to join me.” Olaf said, with a smile that seemed almost friendly. Frederic said nothing in response, but walked to the middle of the room and stood still there, perfectly straight. Two guards outside closed the door behind him. Olaf’s face turned sour when he realized Frederic wasn’t going to talk. He shook his head and walked to his desk, his back aimed at Frederic.

“So, mister Verheij, do you know why I asked for you?” He asked, his voice friendly. Frederic was getting a little confused. Count Olaf wasn’t the type of man that would hide his anger.

“I think I do, sir.” was his short reply.

“Very well. You know, Frederic, I honestly thought you were a very admirable Guard. You’re always on time, awake, you follow the rules well, you’re popular among your co-workers, yet still feared and respected by the citizens. Honestly, you would’ve been the prime example of how a Guard is supposed to behave. And yet…” Olaf turned around, a sword now in his hands. 

“You manage to fuck it up like this.” Frederic gulped. He could now see the face of his boss, and the anger was displayed clearly.

“I’m sorry, sir, I-”

“Silence.” Olaf placed his blade on Frederic’s throat, and started to walk forward, slowly, causing Frederic to get pushed against the wall. Suddenly, Frederic felt a foot collide with his knee, and he fell to the ground.

“I really thought I could trust you, Frederic. You’ve disappointed me greatly, and now, I have to mark you a traitor.” Frederic went pale. Olaf bent over to grab his hood, and threw him face first onto the floor. He felt the blood coming out of his nose, and let out a hiss of pain. Olaf kneeled down next to him, and Frederic felt the hand that grabbed his hair to yank his head back. Before he even realized what happened, the force on his scalp was gone and his face fell back onto the ground. Through his half closed eyes, he could see the blond locks falling on the ground.

“You’re not going to get away with this, mister Verheij.” Olaf accentuated the last two words, and kicked Frederic in his side. 

* * *

 

On the other side of the door, out of sight of the Guards that were standing next to it, Edun was having trouble breathing. He needed to be careful not to make any sound, but fuck, that was hard. He cared for Frederic, a lot more than he was ready to admit, and hearing the pained groans coming from the room didn’t leave much to the imagination. Frederic was being tortured. Another yell could be heard. Edun peeked around the corner. The door was being opened, and the two guards walked in. A groan of pain, and the guards came out, dragging a bleeding and bruised Frederic between them. Olaf pointed away and the Guards walked, pulling his friend along, down the stairs. Olaf followed them closely. Luckily, none of them had seemed to see Edun.

Edun collapsed onto the floor. Tears were streaming down his face. He reminded himself that he needed to be strong, but it was as if, at that moment, his energy had left him completely. He was tired, but he needed to save his friend. He wiped the tears away with his sleeves, and pushed himself up. He needed to finish his shift before anyone found out he had left his post, otherwise he would be in bigger trouble than he already was. And so he ran back, his eyes still red from crying, back into the city. 

* * *

 

Evelijne nudged Leon by jabbing him in his side. A guard was running, alone, with his hood on, seemingly without any direction. However, that was not what made Evelijne notice him. It was the fact that she recognized that man, vaguely, not enough to identify him, but enough to make him stand out. Looking at Leon’s face, she knew he recognized the man too.

“Isn’t that…” Leon started, and Evelijne nodded. “Well, in that case… Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” 

They looked at each other, and within the blink of an eye, they were both running after the stranger. The two of them had known each other for so long that they didn’t really have to talk anymore. While running, the hooded guard looked around, spotting the duo that was now following them, and sped up. Evelijne was now one hundred percent certain that this was indeed the man that choked on his drink that morning.

The man wasn’t as fast as them, but obviously more trained in the art of knowing every single ally. He shot in and out of dark, dimly lit streets, onto more well populated squares, even through secret routes neither Evelijne nor Leon knew about. Evelijne was close to getting tired of the chase, and Leon yelled after the man.

“We’re not here to harm or arrest you, please! We just want to talk!” he screamed loudly. His voice echoed through the streets, yet the man just kept on running. However, it was clear that he, too,  was getting exhausted. When they came to the street where Evelijne grew up, she knew they had him beat. She jumped away, leaving Leon to chase the man, and climbed on top of a crate, onto the roofs of the low houses that filled that area. She ran and jumped over them, and before either Leon or the stranger could reach the end of the narrow street, Evelijne jumped out in front of them.

“Gotcha.” she mumbled, while grabbing the stranger. Leon pulled off the man’s hood, to reveal his face. It was at that moment that Evelijne saw his red face and eyes.

“Have you been crying?” she asked, carefully. The man averted his eyes, his breathing was shocky. “Can you tell us your name?” she tried.

“Yes, ma’am.” He paused for a second. “I’m Edun van Eerden.”

“I’m Evelijne van Maaren, and this here is my friend and squad leader, Leon Stuivenberg. Are you calming down?” Evelijne moved him to a crate to sit on. Leon was eyeing the situation from a distance. He wasn’t exactly emotionally gifted, and was afraid he would say something that would bring the man, Edun, into an even worse situation. Edun was not talking at all. He just sat there, looking terrified. He was no longer crying, but his stuck breaths gave him away.

Evelijne placed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t be sc- hey!” Edun had smacked her hand away, and was getting back up. Now it was Leon’s turn. Using his height to his advantage, Leon pushed the other man back down again.

“Sit down. We want to talk to you about Frederic.” He said, trying to sound calming. Edun’s eyes shot up. Evelijne looked at Leon too, but for a different reason.

“Now that I think about it…” she said, “We haven’t seen him at all since lunch. Usually he swings around the gate to invite us for drinks.” Leon nodded, and looked back at Edun. Tears were forming in the latter's eyes again, and Leon quickly let go of collapsing man.

“Not getting a drink is no reason to cry, man.” Evelijne punched Leon in his side. 

“That’s obviously not why he’s crying, Leon, he never drinks with us.” she turned to face Edun, who still had tears silently rolling down his cheeks. “Can you tell us why you are crying?”

“And before you get defensive, we know about you and Freddo. He already told us most of it.” Leon added. Edun thought this over for a few seconds, and finally nodded. He let out a deep breath, and started talking. They did say they were friends, but he wasn’t going to tell them about the details yet.

“I… I don’t know where to start.” The memories came flooding back in, and he visibly cringed. He took another sharp breath, and continued. “Frederic had gotten a letter this afternoon, about how he needed to report to Count Olaf immediately. He told me about it before leaving, and I think he already knew it was bad news. When he went into the study, I… I hid behind a wall to listen in. At first they were just chatting, but soon, I could hear yelling, and then a loud thud.” He paused again, to calm down. “Soon thereafter, I could hear the Count kicking Frederic, and Frederic was yelling, in pain, and then the door opened, and two guards… They carried Fred out, on their shoulders, to downstairs. He was bruised, and bleeding, his hair was cut short. No one saw me, and thus I ran.”

All of them were silent for a bit. Leon stood up, turned around, and took several deep breaths. He was obviously mad. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he kicked a rock that was lying on the ground to the other end of the street, sending it flying.

“That bitch!”

Evelijne looked shocked at Leon’s sudden burst of anger, and scolded him: “Watch your language, idiot! You can’t call the Count a bitch, that’s just straight disrespect! What are you even talking about?” 

“I’m not talking about Count Olaf, Eef! I’m talking about Fleur, the little snitch! She obviously told Olaf about Frederic!” Edun looked confused. He had never talked to Fleur, and he only knew her by name. 

“Come on, Leon, that’s not important right now. She probably didn’t know what it meant to the Count anyway.”

“You know full well she did, she’s just a filthy bootlicker that will do anything to get herself onto a pedestal.”

“Uhm…” Edun tried to stop the bickering. “What can we do to help Frederic?”

Both Leon and Evelijne turned towards the young man. Evelijne sighed in defeat, and sat down next to Edun.

“I don’t think we can do anything right now. I’m guessing that he will stay in jail for a few more days, and then probably lose his job, no matter how sad it might be. It’s probably for the best though. You do have one lucky break in all of this, though.” She said, with a sad smile. Edun looked at her, not knowing what she meant.

“He’s probably not going to get banished, as he still served the Count well. So, you can still visit him.” This calmed Edun down. He wasn’t going to lose Frederic. 

They sat in silence for a while longer, Leon muttering curse words under his breath. After a few minutes had passed, he turned around.

“Let's go to the inn. I'll pay for our drinks.”

A falcon flew over them, not pausing, but seemingly searching for something.

* * *

 

The next morning, Edun woke up with an eerie feeling. It was still early, as the sun was just barely creeping over the horizon. He could just make out the outline of the red morning sun through the heavy fog. The city was still silent, but Edun knew it wouldn't be silent for long, as the market was already building up. He dragged himself out of bed to get dressed.

After he had finally clicked his shoulder pads into place, Edun headed outside to the mess hall, across the street of his barracks. He looked at his usual spot, but noticed Evelijne was waving at him to come over.

“Good morning.” he mumbled, as he sat down in the spot Frederic usually sat. Evelijne and Leon said good morning back, almost in sync, which they had a good laugh about. Edun took small sips from his mug, and ate some of his food. However, he still wasn't  feeling great.

A tray dropped down next to his. Leon immediately shot up.

“What do you think you're doing?” he asked, loudly and mad. Evelijne pulled him down again.

“I'm… eating breakfast, Leon.” Fleur responded. Leon glared at her.

Evelijne sighed and glared at her friend before turning around to face the woman standing across the table. “I think it's best if you sit somewhere else for now, Fleur.”

Fleur picked up her tray, but before she could leave, she noticed Edun.

“Who's the new kid?” she asked, trying to sound friendly.

“Oh, uh…” Evelijne stammered. Leon finished for her.

“That's Edun. We're showing him the ropes today.” After a while, Fleur nodded, and left to sit at another table. Leon sighed in relief.

Edun sighed too, but for a different reason. “I've been working here for four years, man.”

“Yeah, well… what she doesn't know, doesn't hurt us.”

Suddenly, Korda entered the room. “Attention, Guards!” he shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear him. “All of you have an obligation for today: Count Olaf himself has summoned you to the courtyard. At noon, every single one of you will be expected there. Attendance will be noted, and failure to show up will result in severe punishment.” he left the room as quickly as he entered, leaving all of the Guards confused. Edun shuddered at the thought of a punishment.

“What could this be about?” Leon mumbled. He could hear all of his co-workers asking the same question, but never an answer. He glared at Fleur, who felt the eyes on her back, and turned around. When she saw Leon’s angry stare, she shrugged, and turned back to her breakfast.

Evelijne whispered back at him. “I have no idea.”

* * *

 

Seeing the courtyard filled with people repulsed Fleur. She didn't ever feel like being in such a large crowd was fun, with all the people being cramped together, but this time, the fun meter was even lower. She had an itch about what this meeting was about, and she also knew she wasn't gonna enjoy it.

Soon Olaf walked out, with Halina on his arm, onto a makeshift wooden podium with a big wooden pole in the center. He walked Halina to a chair on the side, and stood still on the center of the podium, in front of the pole. He cleared his throat in order to silence everyone, but since everyone was already silent with anticipation and fear, it was unnecessary.

“My dear Guards. Two days ago I gave out a request to all of your squad leaders, to stay on the lookout for two guards who had broken the rules. And in one night, I already had a report. I want to thank you for your dedication, and applaud you on your loyalty.” he paused, for the dramatic effect. “Now, as for the culprit. He took off his mask in public, made a fool out of the guards, and betrayed me by lying about it. My intention of today is not to praise you, but to make an example for anyone that even thinks of breaking the rules. And Frederic Verheij is going to be that example for me.”

Fleur’s eyes widened. Frederic was being dragged onto the stage, shirtless and badly bruised. His hair was cut short, and small, healing cuts covered his neck and shoulders. His wrists were tied together with a rough rope.

The two guards pulled him along and tied his hands to the pole in the center, his bare and bruised back facing the crowd. Fleur felt sick. She should've known better than this, this was all her fault. The weight of her deeds became clear, and she had to balance herself in order to avoid falling over.

“Oh god.” she whispered, and forced herself to look at the stage. She wanted to do something to help her friend, but she knew that it was already too late.

From the stage, Olaf’s voice boomed over the silent crowd.

“I'd like to have everyone's undivided attention.” 


	5. Threaths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Realization is kicking in fully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: Torture

The sun was bright and hot, and Frederic felt it burning. The crowd was buzzing, and all at once,  all of the guards gasped. Frederic turned his head to look at Olaf. He was carrying a whip,  and Frederic's breath stocked. He immediately hugged the pole tighter, and with clenched teeth, he prepared himself.

“I hope this will show everyone here that my rules are not to be rejected.” he heard from his side. 

The crack of the whip was loud, and the pain was quick to follow. Frederic let out a pained cry, but shut his mouth immediately again. He couldn't show his pain, Edun was watching. He had to be.

Another crack. And another. Frederic’s back felt like it was burning already, and he could feel drops of blood trickling down. From the corner of his eye, he could see Halina standing up.

“What are you doing, Olaf?” she yelled, sounding revolted. Olaf stopped lashing, and slowly looked up at Halina.

“I'm making an example, I already said that. Now get back to your seat, woman.” he growled. Halina took a step back, before shaking her head angrily. She quickly walked inside, not wanting to be a part of this disgusting presentation.

“Very well.” Olaf sighed, and lashed again. Frederic fell to his knees in pain, and Olaf laughed. 

“Well, that was quicker than I expected.” 

* * *

 

Leon cringed visibly at every whipping, and Evelijne was trying to look away. When Leon saw Frederic drop to his knees, he cried out in anger.

“You can't do this! Let him go!” He shouted, piercing the silence. Olaf did stop, to Leon’s surprise, and everyone looked at Leon. Slowly, Olaf turned around, whip hanging at his side.

“Well. What is this about, mister Stuivenberg? Are you disagreeing with me? Or volunteering to take his place.” Leon shrunk back, not knowing what to say. He shook his head in denial of what was happening. In all of the five years he had worked as a Guard, no one had ever been punished like this. It seemed as if Olaf was getting darker each day, and Halina couldn’t balance him out. Leon had never felt the need to rebel as strongly as he did now.

Evelijne tapped on his arm, and shook her head. She was right, this wasn’t the moment. Olaf was still awaiting a response. 

“My apologies.” He sighed. Olaf huffed and went back to giving out the lashes. Leon could see his friend’s back getting bloodier and redder with every lash. He was scared. He had heard tales of people being whipped to death, and he hoped the Count knew when to stop. A soft sniffling sound came from next to him. Evelijne was having obvious troubles, and Leon didn’t know what he should do. Well, he did know one thing.

Evelijne was surprised when she felt Leon’s arms around her, but she didn’t move away. She needed the support from her best friend right now. 

Leon didn’t let go off Evelijne for a while. Others stared at them, but Leon wasn’t in the mood to confront them about it. After a while, Frederic’s head dropped. He was hanging by the rope on the pole, not able to hold himself up any longer. Olaf gave another few lashes for good measure, and then mentioned for a sword. He cut Frederic loose, and kicked him onto the ground, almost backwards. Frederic was unconscious.

“I hope I have made myself clear enough.” and with that, Olaf walked back inside as well, leaving the fainted man on the stage.

* * *

 

The courtyard emptied quickly, no one wanting to be near the stage. Leon could see Frederic being dragged away as he was leaving. In one of the hallways he needed to go through to get back outside, he spotted a familiar face.

“Evelijne,” he whispered. “I think we need to have a chat with someone.” Evelijne followed his gaze, standing on her toes to see who he was talking about. After the realization hit, she nodded. They speed-walked through the sea of people. Somewhere in the middle of the sea, Evelijne and Leon noticed they passed Edun, and Leon linked his arm around him, to drag him with. Before Edun knew what had happened, they were standing in front of Fleur. 

“You’re not moving until we let you go, understood?” Leon was using his height to its full potential while intimidating the much shorter woman. Fleur simply nodded, looking away. 

After a while, the hallway was emptied of people. The four of them were the only ones left. Leon finally took a step back, and Fleur let out a breath.

“Can I leave now? I have to get back to work.” She whispered, but her sadness could still be heard. Leon was seething.

“No, of course you can’t. I think you know exactly why we stopped you. What did you do?”

“Fuck off, Leon. I need to go.” Fleur murmured, and she tried to get past him, but Leon shoved her back into the corner. Evelijne let out an angry sigh, and Edun looked confused.

“I ask you again, what did you do?” Leon hissed.

Fleur looked up. She was pale, and her eyes were red from tears. 

“You know fully fucking well what I did, Leon! Now let me go!” she yelled. Leon lifted his fist, but he immediately felt Evelijne using her full weight to hold him back. He struggled, still trying to get to Fleur, but Evelijne wasn’t budging, and Edun had started to pull too.

“Let me at her, I swear, she fucking deserves it!” Leon yelled at his friends. He knew that they were probably being the smart adults in this situation, but he simply didn’t care.

“Leon, you need to calm down!” Evelijne screamed back. 

“We can’t have you in jail too!” Edun added. Leon slowly calmed down. They were right. He looked back at Fleur, who had shrunk back into the corner, covering her face with her arms. He sighed, and took a step back.

“Alright, now that you’ve calmed down… Can someone tell me what she actually did to make you two so hostile towards her?” Fleur looked at Edun, who just shrugged. “To be honest,” he continued. “I don’t even know her.” Leon groaned in frustration, and Evelijne tugged his sleeve.

“I don’t think we should say that. Fleur, this is your problem.” she said. Fleur stammered a bit, before mumbling something under her breath.

“What was that?” Leon hissed.

“I said, I don’t know who he is either. Why should I tell him?” Leon took a step closer, towering her.

“Because I’m telling you to.” He spoke, voice low. Fleur cowered. After calming down a little, she turned towards Edun.

“Fine… I- How do I even say this?” she looked at Evelijne for support, but the latter just looked away. She was on her own. “I was the person who reported Frederic.” she sighed. “But I honestly didn’t know what Count Olaf wanted from him! I swear, I didn’t mean to hurt anyone, I’m sorry, please, I’m sorry!” The last part had turned into a desperate plea. Her expression was filled with anxiety and regret. 

Edun’s face switched from confusion, to anger. This woman that he barely knew, had caused all of this? He suddenly understood Leon’s rage, and stepped closer himself.

“Why.” he growled.

“I- Look, I’m sorry, ok? He was my friend too.” she whispered.

“That’s not what I asked. Why.” He didn’t sound as mad as before, but he obviously wasn’t happy. Evelijne wasn’t sure if she had to stop Edun before it escalated, but Leon held her back. Edun needed to do this.

“I… I had to.”

“You had to?” Edun yelled. “You had to betray your friend, no, your friends? You had to hurt everyone like this? You had to be this egoistic?” Fleur whimpered. “I don’t think I believe that. You always have a choice, and you obviously made yours.” Edun pushed Fleur back into the corner, the force causing her to fall on the ground. He walked past Leon and Evelijne, before turning around.

“I’m gonna go.” he said, and he left the building.

Fleur slowly pushed herself back up again. She rubbed her arm. It was obviously bruised now, but it wasn’t too bad. Leon and Evelijne were still watching Edun leave, while she tried to leave silently. Before she could, Leon turned around.

“Where do you think you’re going.” He sounded serious. Fleur didn’t want to respond, but did anyway, after a glare from Evelijne.

“I’m… going to the Count. He asked me to report to him afterwards.” Leon let out a humourless laugh. 

“Are you going to tell on us too? Because we knew? Shit, Fleur, I think we just can’t let that happen.” he said, while blocking the road.

“Please, Leon, I’m not. If I don’t go, I’ll be the next person on that pole, and you know it.” She cringed at the memory of the pole.

“Leon, let her go. If she wants to tell on us, then that’s her burden.” Evelijne said, angrily.

Fleur turned pale again, but left without saying a word. Leon and Evelijne watched her leave too, in the opposite direction of where Edun went just a few moments ago. They stood there for a while in silence, before agreeing that they needed to get back to their posts. There was still an entire afternoon ahead of them.

* * *

 

Once again, Fleur stood before the imposing wooden door. However, this time, she was a lot less proud of herself. It seemed like she went here, the visit became more depressing. The hallway was silent, and she could hear her own breathing. After a while of attempts to calm herself, she knocked on the door. 

“Who’s there?” Olaf’s voice came from within. It gave her shudders.

“Fleur van de Kooij, sir. You requested me to report.”

“Come in.”

The first thing she noticed when she entered was a bloodstain on the wooden floor. She stared at it for a few seconds, wide eyed, until Olaf stood up. 

“Miss van de Kooij, please, don’t get distracted.” She looked at the Count, and in the corner of the room, she spotted the whip that had been used earlier. Fleur instinctively took a step back. Olaf noticed, and laughed friendly.

“Oh dear, no need to be afraid. After all, you did great work. No need to punish you too, although I’m glad to see my… public display has left an impression. “ Fleur simply nodded. She didn’t know what to say, and she was still slightly unnerved.

“Yes. Now, the reason for this summoning. I’ve decided to give you a new job. You were one of Frederic’s closer friends, were you not? So, I’m requesting you to guard his cell. You don’t have to do anything other than making sure he doesn’t escape, but, it would be greatly appreciated if you talked to him. See if you can get some information out of him.” he said, grinning.

“But what about the second guard? Aren’t I still supposed to find them?” Fleur asked. She was confused about the sudden change of plans.

“I will take care of that. Grijsvalk will be… checking in on the Guards every now and then, and I myself will keep a much closer eye on everything. You are needed elsewhere now.

Fleur sighed. “With all due respect, sir, I don’t think that is going to work.”

“Why not?”

“I-” she paused. “I don’t think he would want to talk to me anymore, sir.”

Olaf pondered over this for a bit, before walking over to Fleur, pulling her sword out of the sheath and admiring it in the sunlight. Fleur was uncomfortable, and afraid. Would he aim her own sword at her? 

“Then make him.” He finally said, handing the sword back to Fleur.


	6. Failed attempts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edun decides to pay Frederic not one, but two visits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look nothing gruesome happens in this chapter what happy days.

The moon was high when Edun left his room. He wasn’t wearing full uniform, but he was dressed in full black. He didn’t want to be seen this night. Grabbing a bucket from a storage closet, he snuck out the barracks. 

It wasn’t too hard to get to the jails. The cells were only guarded inside, as no one dared to get near them. The city was silent, with only the occasional guard walking around enforcing the curfew. Edun should’ve worn his mask, he realized now. He might’ve passed as a Guard on shift that way. It was too late to change that now though, as he was already inside the jail. 

Now came the biggest problem. Outside the cells, on a small stool, sat a figure. Edun couldn’t tell if they were awake, but they hadn’t noticed him yet. The keys were hanging from their belt. Edun crouched next to the mysterious guard, and to his relief, he heard the steady breathing of a sleeping person. He really didn’t want to knock anybody out. He carefully took the keys from the belt. They weren’t secured well at all, and he had a chuckle about this. Not everyone was as trained as they should be, apparently. With the keys in his hand, he snuck over to the jail cell he needed. Careful not to make any sound, he opened the door, dragged the bucket in with him, and closed the door again.

Inside, a man was sleeping. He was wearing rags, but they were incredibly loose, like it was just a sheet of rough fabric draped around him. His hands were tied together, and he was sleeping sitting up. Edun’s heart almost broke at the sight of his friend broken like this. Gently, he tapped Frederic’s face.

“Are you awake?” he whispered. Frederic shot up, eyes wide. He opened his mouth to yell, but Edun quickly placed his hand over it.

“It’s me, shush.” Frederic calmed down. He recognized Edun’s voice and gently took his hand.

“What are you doing here? And how did you get past Fleur?” He whispered back. Edun pulled back. He turned around to look at the closed wooden door.

“That’s Fleur? She was asleep.” He finally responded. Slowly, he started to undo the rags. Frederic hissed in pain every now and then, but didn’t stop his friend. When he was finally free, Frederic sighed. 

“Thank you.” Edun gave him a soft kiss on his cheek. 

“Can you move over? I want to calm your back down. I can’t imagine how painful it must’ve been.” Edun sighed, and he grabbed the bucket.

“Don't worry. It didn't hurt all that much, I'm fine.” Frederic answered with a smile. 

Edun looked at him in disbelief. “You don't have to pretend, Fred. I saw you faint. Please, move over so I can help you.”

Frederic looked embarrassed, but shook his head. “I can’t, sorry. You’re right, it hurts too much when I move. Can you try to do it like this?”

Edun hummed and grabbed the rag from the bucket. The water was still cold, as he fetched it from the well before coming to the jail. Slowly and carefully, he dabbed water onto the wounds. Frederic’s sharp breaths of pain became fewer, until he was just sighing in relief. Edun smiled. His friend was feeling okay again. 

“Thanks a lot, Edun. You're an amazing friend.” Edun smiled even brighter when he saw the soft smile on Frederic’s face. Careful not to touch his back, he threw his arms around him.

“I'm so glad you're okay.” Edun whispered with a hoarse voice. Frederic could feel a small pool of warmth on his shoulder,  and pushed the other man back to wipe his tears away. Edun smiled, and Frederic leaned in for another kiss.

“And to think,” He whispered when they were back into a comfortable hugging position, “We aren't even drunk right now.” Edun chuckled and gave him another peck on his cheek. He pulled his hand to the, now short blond hair. He could stay like this forever.

* * *

 

Fleur was awoken by the sound of water, and something wooden falling over. She shot up, and when she realized she had fallen asleep, she let out a silent groan. The prison wasn't as silent as she expected it to be. Soft curse words could be heard from behind the door. However, what surprised her, was that two voices were cursing. Fleur drew her sword and slowly walked towards the door. Reaching for her keys, she noticed they weren't there anymore. 

“Who's in there?” she yelled, and threw her full body against the door, causing it to fall open. The cell was dark, and her eyes weren't used to it yet. She aimed her sword at the dark silhouettes. Both of them were silent.

“Identify yourself before I cut you open, stranger.” One of the silhouettes stood up.

“Please, don't harm him, Fleur.” Frederic spoke from his bench, sounding frightened. The other man still hadn't spoken, but Fleur was getting used to the dark, and in the faint torchlight coming from outside she could make out some facial features. She recognized him. 

“You're the newbie…” she whispered. “What are you doing here?” 

“I- I've worked here for four years, Fleur. I'm here to help Frederic, since I actually care about him.” he snarled. 

Fleur lowered her sword. “First of all, you're in no position to talk like that, as I could literally slit your throat right now and I would be in the right. Secondly, if you've worked here for that long… well, then you know the rules. And third,” she sighed and stepped back. “I care enough about him to give you the option to leave, right now.”

“And then what? Or no, better question: Or else?” Edun responded angrily. Fleur let out another sigh. She had just given this man the opportunity to leave, and he denied.

“And then I have never seen you.” she took a look at her sword, still in her hand. “And for your second question, newbie… I slit your throat, because I'm fully justified to kill a traitor.” 

Edun felt a hand tugging his sleeve. Frederic was looking at him, with a sad smile. “It's okay, Edun. Just go.” he whispered. Fleur opened the door.

“You could still redeem yourself, Fleur. Help us. I'm sure Leon and Evelijne will forgive you too.” Edun said, while stepping outside.

“I'm already helping you, Edun.” she sighed back.

* * *

 

A knock on her door disrupted Evelijne’s peaceful sleep. Grouchy, she sat up. She had finally fallen asleep, and she really desperately needed the sleep. Another knock.

“Coming!” she shouted. With her helmet under her elbow, she opened the door. Edun immediately walked past her, looking even angrier than she felt. He sat down on her bed without  saying a single word.

Evelijne stared at him for a little while. “Why are you here?” she finally said, sitting down next to him. Edun looked into his lap.

“I need your help. And Leon’s too, preferably.” He spoke softly, as not to wake anyone else. 

Evelijne hesitated. “Is this something we need Leon for, too? Because then we need to go wake him up.” When Edun looked up at her, she shot him a smile. “Trust me. I’ve known him long enough; he won’t mind.”

Leon’s room was near Evelijne’s, and within no time, they stood in front of the door. Edun lifted his hand to knock, but Evelijne slapped his hand away, ignoring the offended face he was now giving her. With a devious smile, she softly opened the door. The idiot always left it unlocked, and Evelijne wanted to teach him a lesson. She snuck closer to the bed, leaving Edun behind, who was still standing in the doorway, looking really uncomfortable. Without any warning, Evelijne jumped on top of the bed, landing on Leon’s stomach, who woke up with a loud ‘Oomph’.

Evelijne burst out in laughter. “We’re under attack! Get ready!” She nearly yelled, but lowered her volume after remembering it was near midnight. Edun was snickering at the display too, but he kept a safe distance. Leon pushed his friend off of him.

“Woman, what do you think you’re doing? I was asleep!” He whispered angrily. Evelijne just laughed in response, now sitting on the floor. Edun answered for her.

“We- well, I need your help. I haven’t really discussed anything with Evelijne yet either.” Evelijne stood back up, straightening out her tunic. Leon refused to leave his bed, and on the face of his friend a new evil grin appeared.

“Please tell me you’re wearing clothes.” She whispered, and Leon immediately turned a bright shade of red.

“Yes, of course I am!” He said, sounding both embarrassed and offended.

“Fantastic. Then get out of bed and help Edun.” She snorted.

“Sure. What does he need help with, anyway?” Edun’s face was serious. He walked closer to the duo, and sat down on the ground as well.

“I want to break Frederic out.” 

Evelijne audible gasped. “You want to do what? Are you crazy?” she squeaked. Leon shrugged.

“I don’t know, Eef. I don’t think it’s that bad of an idea.” He said. “Who knows what could happen with him in there.”

“You’re going to be seen, by other guards, by Grijsvalk, hell, maybe even by Count Olaf himself! It’s way too dangerous!” She continued. Edun looked at her, almost disappointed.

“Evelijne, I need your help too. Please, together we can do it. I already have the basic plan thought out.” He said. When the others looked at him, patiently, he continued. “I need you two get Fleur to leave the cells, while I sneak past her, grab her keys, they’re tied to her belt really loosely, and get Fred out through the back door.” 

“Wait, hold up. Did you say ‘distract Fleur’? As in, Fleur is guarding the jail cell? How did you even find that out?” Evelijne asked.

“Well, I- uhm, I just returned from the jail.”

His friends were silent for a while. Finally, Leon broke the silence. 

“To be frank with you, Edun, that’s a terrible idea.” He paused, but quickly continued when he saw Edun’s offended face. “However, it can be solved with just a few minor adjustments. First of all, you’re gonna need an uniform for Fred. Preferably one with a hood, to make him unrecognizable. Secondly, while I still think it’s a better idea to knock the bitch unconscious, I suggest we distract her instead of getting her to leave. It’s easier, and I’ll block her view. Now, I only have one final question. How are we going to leave our posts without being noticed?”

“We don’t.” Evelijne whispered. “We’ll get noticed, but, Leon, you can just say we need to report and no one in the squad will ask a thing! Oh, Edun, this is genius! It’s gonna work!” Edun blushed at the compliment.

“Thanks, Evelijne. But, uhm, maybe it’s better to go to bed now. It’s getting really late.” The other two nodded, and soon, they were all back in their own rooms.

* * *

 

A bright ray of sunshine hit Fleur’s face through the small window. The lack of sleep was really getting to her, as she was yawning and stretching, but nothing seemed to help. She walked over to Frederic’s cell, mostly to get her legs working again, but also because she really wanted to talk to him. Softly, she knocked on the door.

“Fuck off, Fleur.” came the reply from inside. 

“I just want to talk to you, Fred.” She said, while opening the door. Frederic wasn’t looking at her, but he was clearly mad.

“Would you talk to me if I gave you some bread?” Fleur tried to joke, but she simply received an angry glare from him. She sighed and leaned against the wall.

“I’m… I’m sorry, okay. I didn’t know it would get this bad, and if I didn’t say anything, I would’ve gotten fired after getting the same punishment!” Frederic glared at her even more, causing her to cower.

“Can you please talk with me, Fred, I am incredibly sorry. Please, stop giving me this silent treatment.” 

Frederic looked away, to the small window that let some light into his cell. “You know, Fleur, I don’t think I have anything to say to you anymore. I think you need to go now, before I punch you.”

“...Good luck doing that all tied up, Fred.” She tried to make another joke, but quickly realized this wasn’t the time. She continued silently. ”I really do want a second chance. But think about it.”

Suddenly she heard footsteps coming down the corridor. Afraid of being reprimanded for not paying attention, she immediately stepped out and closed the door behind her. The bright light compared to that in the jail cell blinded her for a second, and when she feverishly blinked to get it away, the footsteps had already stopped. In front of her, blocking out all the sunlight, was Leon.

“Hey.” He mumbled. Fleur was confused. She thought he had made it very clear that he didn’t want to see her again, and now he voluntarily came to the cells? Maybe he just didn’t know she would be here. From behind him, Evelijne stepped sideways. 

“I didn’t know you got a promotion.” She remarked, clearly trying to make small-talk.

“I did, thanks for noticing, I guess.” Fleur replied, hesitantly. “Why are you two here? Don’t you need to be at your post?

“We took a break.” Leon said.

“Oh.”

They stood in silence for a while longer. Suddenly, Leon made a weird turn, effectively blocking out another half of Fleur’s field of view. 

“So, did you know that Frieda fell from the stairs today? She was bruised and all that too, pretty bad fall.” Leon was talking loudly, and Evelijne was rocking back and forth. “I helped her up though, and brought her to the infirmary. You should’ve seen Frieda’s face when we told her what happened! She apparently forgot, it was just the funniest thing.” Fleur was getting annoyed by the talking. It was nothing substantial, and it sounded like Leon was in pain talking to her.

“Stop it, Leon. You don’t have to talk to me. Really, if it’s just going to be like this, I’d prefer it if you just didn’t.” Leon had to fight the urge to kick her.

“Besides, if-” Fleur had turned around. The jail door of Frederic’s cell was open. Evelijne tried to grab her, but Fleur pulled herself loose and looked inside the cell. Edun was just giving Frederic a kiss after helping him up.

“...out.” Fleur whispered.

“Fuck, Fleur, I swear, you’re gonna regret this.” Leon shouted from behind her. Fleur drew her sword.

“Out! All of you, get out! I’m giving you ten seconds before I hurt someone.” Her sword was aimed at Edun specifically, but the way she was swinging it around, everyone was in danger.

“Fleur, please, I am begging for the first time in my fucking life, don’t rat Edun out, okay? He doesn’t deserve this shit.” Frederic pleaded from the back of the jail cell as Edun was slowly walking out.

“For the last time, out!”


	7. Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fleur has to tell the truth, but it doesn't feel as good anymore

“Give me another one.” Fleur was starting to get drunk, yet she couldn't care less. Her shift had been stressful. As soon as she had arrived home, she had left for the bar, not even bothering to change. Public intoxication and image preservation be damned. She knew that drinking wouldn't help her, but at least it numbed everything a bit.

While it was still a little early to have a party at the bar, she was not alone. The bar was loud, and the bartender could barely hear her. Another mug was set in front of her. She drank it all in a few big swigs, earning her applause from a few patrons who were already more drunk that she was. Fleur sighed, and just waved her hand for another mug.

Fuck, she was starting to feel sick. Thoughts were going through her head at lightspeed, causing the tremendous headache she was currently experiencing. She ran her hands through her tied up hair, making it a mess.

“What do I do?” she murmured under her breath. Nothing was going the way it should have. Frederic wasn't supposed to be punished like that, she wasn't supposed to prevent her bruised and bleeding friend from escaping, and she definitely wasn't supposed to be in the position she was in right now. 

“I can't just betray him.” she said out loud, and the bartender nodded.

“Of course not, miss.” He replied, as if he actually cared or knew about the subject. Fleur let out a groan. Memories came flooding back, causing her breath to stock. Frederic used to be a good friend, and he didn't deserve this. Edun probably didn't either, but she didn't know him well enough to decide about that. Leon would murder her, and Fleur shook away the thought that she deserved that. She hadn't known. Evelijne wouldn't stop Leon this time, though. 

She knew that sooner or later, someone would find out. That wasn't the question. After all, the Count had eyes everywhere. It was a miracle that Edun was able to escape being noticed in the first place. She took another swig. The room was starting to get fuzzy, and the voices from everyone else were grating. Would anyone forgive her if she accidentally told it? She was terrible at lying, and the consequences of being caught lying were far too great for her to consider it. On the other hand, if she refused to tell him and got fired, someone might forgive her.

A tap on her shoulder pulled her away from her thoughts. She turned around, looking incredibly mad. The man, no, the child that had disturbed her, looked terrified. 

“Are you… Miss van der Kooij?” He read from the note he was holding in his hands. Fleur huffed. The kid was obviously one of the new recruits, with a mask slightly too big for his youthful face, and a posture that left much to wish for. Fleur stood up, and grabbed him by the shoulders to make him stand up straight. She could feel the alcohol, causing her to stand a bit wonky herself.

“Much better.” Fleur murmured. The young guard cleared his throat. “Yes, that's me.” she continued.

“I have a message for you from Count Olaf.” the young boy said, and Fleur felt a shiver down her spine.

“Could you, uhm… read that for me?”

“Sure, I mean, of course.” he cleared his throat again. “Fleur van de Kooij, you are hereby requested to come to your Count at once. Tardiness or refusal to come shall not be accepted. Signed, Korda.”

After a moment of silence from Fleur, she sighed. The shock of the letter made her feel a lot more sober, almost instantaneously.

“Well,” she started, “That was a little quicker than I expected.”

* * *

 

“What do we do now?” Evelijne looked worried. Leon was staring off into the distance. She prodded him with her elbow. 

“I, uh… Don’t know. We can’t stop her without letting everyone know that we know, and we can’t beat her to death-” Evelijne gave him a dirty look. “Fine, we can’t punish her without getting ourselves in trouble.” 

Evelijne sighed. “Look, Eef, I understand that you’re worried. I’m too. But if that bitch does decide to rat Edun out, I’ll make sure nothing happens to them.” Leon tried to comfort her.

“I just hope that she has a little bit of heart left.” Evelijne sighed. “We’ve been friends for such a long time, too.” Leon handed her a bottle of cider, patting her back.

“I think it’s best if you just forget about that now, Eef.”

The hallway seemed too empty for the time of day. They weren’t supposed to still be in the Belfort, but they didn’t care anymore. It’s not like anyone would tell them to go back to their posts anyway. However, it did make them wary of any footsteps, as they didn’t want to get reprimanded. 

“I will, in time, don’t worry. For now I just want to get us all out of here, to be honest.”

Leon suddenly pushed her into a wall, causing her to yelp.  

“What's this about?” she huffed angrily, but Leon placed his hand over her mouth. Suddenly she heard it too: footsteps, coming down the corridor, accompanied by angry muttering. Leon peeked around the corner, and quickly turned back.

“It's Fleur.” he mouthed, slowly, so Evelijne could read his lips.

“What do we do now?” She mouthed back. Leon was halfway through shrugging when Evelijne could see the idea forming in his head. He came closer.

“We follow her.” he whispered.

* * *

 

Fleur couldn't say she hadn't seen the two, but it didn't bother her. The burden of the information, and the knowledge of what she had to do, had made her impervious to this kind of behaviour from her co-workers. Once again, she stood in front of the door. 

“The last and most depressing visit of all.” she whispered to herself. This was going to be bad, one way or another. She couldn’t lie for shit. Still, the meeting was inescapable. One thing gave her the bravery she needed to knock, and that was the knowledge that this would indeed be the last visit, at least for a while. Her knock was weak, but echoed in the empty hallway. 

“Who's there?” Olaf sounded happy.

Fleur, did not. “Fleur van de Kooij, sir.”

The door opened up, and Fleur saw the familiar room. The bloodstain was gone.

“I assume the night went well? I didn't hear any immediate news, at least, which means no one escaped on your first shift. I can't say every person I stationed there was that lucky.” He chuckled. Fleur felt a hollow feeling in her stomach.

“No, sir. Nothing out of order happened.” she said, hoping he didn't notice her weird expression. The room stayed silent for a few moments, as Count Olaf looked out of the window, opened it, and walked over to his desk.

“And did you get the chance to talk to mister Verheij?” He finally asked.

“Yes, sir.” Fleur didn’t want to expand her answer, as that was the part where she would have to tell her tale. She could hear the pleading voice of Frederic in her head, and attempted to shake him away. Luckily, Olaf hadn't noticed it.

“So, have you found any new information in the past night?” He asked for elaboration. Fleur looked at the open window, trying to avoid eye contact. An obvious sign of disrespect, she knew, and she didn't miss the annoyed look on the Count’s face, but she needed all the help she could get if she was going to lie.

“...No, sir. He refused to talk to me.” Olaf chuckled. Fleur was confused. Out of all the reactions she expected from him, anger, annoyance, disappointment even, a chuckle wasn't one of them. Olaf walked past her, and when he stood behind her, he continued chuckling.

“Did you use your sword? Threatened him? You could've harmed him, you know.” He said, with a low voice. It felt like this was a threat on his own.

“I… I did threaten him, sir. He simply refused to speak, at all.” 

“Are you absolutely sure?” The response came out of nowhere, and Fleur felt like she had been punched in the stomach. However, she had to continue now.

“Yes, sir.” A bird flew onto the windowsill. It was his falcon, Grijsvalk. Fuck. She had forgotten about that.

“I don't need to remind you of Grijsvalk, miss Van de Kooij. I think you know perfectly well that Grijsvalk sees everything, hmm? So here's your last chance.” He stepped closer, in order to intimidate her. It was working. “Did you, or did you not, gain any new information last night?” It was spoken slowly and low, terrifying Fleur. Tears were welling up in her eyes, but she blinked them away.

“I did, sir.” she whispered, her voice sounding hoarse.

“I know. Now, what did you learn? Names? Locations?” The questions weren't helping her headache, and she knew she was being interrogated. Her posture shattered.

“It was Edun, sir.” she said. Outside, she could hear the sound of someone cursing, and she immediately clasped her hands in front of her mouth.

“Perfect.”

* * *

 

“I fucking knew it!” Leon shouted. Evelijne kicked him, to shut him up.

“Don't shout!” she whispered. 

“Well, excuse me, but come on! She did it again! How can she be such a terrible fucking person? I didn't even know it was humanly possible to have such a broken morality.” He said, softer, but still mad.

Evelijne sighed. “I don't know, Leon. But we should probably tell Edun.”

Before they could even leave, the door opened. Fleur walked out, her face solemn. She was putting her mask back on.

“Go fetch mister Van Eerden for me, will you?” Olaf called from his study. Fleur turned around and nodded, and walked past Leon and Evelijne, who were both making threatening gestures at her. As soon as she had fully walked past them, and the door of the study had been closed, Leon dashed after her. 

“How could you?” He yelled after her, but Fleur walked on. They were unable to see the tears streaming down her cheeks, and the lack of response made Leon even madder. He could see Edun sitting on a bench, and he ran past her to reach him first. Evelijne did the same, and together, they blocked Fleur from reaching Edun.

“Please, Leon, Eef, don't do this.” She sighed. 

“Don't you dare think you have any right to consider me a friend, Van de Kooij. You've made your decisions, and we're not letting you.” Evelijne hissed. Fleur took off her mask, revealing her red and blotchy face.

“Do you think I enjoyed it?” she yelled, her voice cracking. 

Edun stood up. “What happened?” he asked calmly. Leon took a look at Fleur, and turned back to Edun.

“The bitch ratted you out, and now she's here to arrest you.” Edun took a step back in disbelief.

“What…” he whispered. “What? She did what?” The last part was a confused yell. He hadn't wanted to believe that she was actually capable of doing such a thing.

“I'm sorry, Edun. But don't worry, we won't let her,” Evelijne said, and glared at Fleur, who was crying again.

“I'm sorry!” she yelled, as Edun walked towards her. “I didn't want to tell! I tried so hard, but Grijsvalk, and Count Olaf, they threatened me, and I honestly wanted to protect you!” Edun was now standing right in front of her, and she was having trouble breathing. 

“Please, I don't want to do this, you were my friends, and I understand if we can't be friends anymore, but please, don't hurt me, I never meant for anything like this to happen!” After this desperate plea, Fleur closed her eyes, expecting the feeling of a fist colliding with her face. She was surprised when she felt the arms of Edun around her, pulling her into a hug. Relieved, she hid her face in his shoulder, muttering more apologies.

“What are you doing?” Leon asked, softly.

“I forgive her. I don't know why she did this, but she obviously didn't mean to get tangled up like this. It's too late to do anything about it anyways now.” Fleur sniffed, and pulled away.

“Thank you, Edun. But I don't think I can forgive myself yet.” Her voice was soft and broken.

“And what do you think you're going to do about that?” Leon snided, obviously not buying it. Edun gave him an angry glare.

Fleur shrugged. “I don't know. But I know what you should do, Edun.”

“And what could that be?” Evelijne asked.

“Run.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I think it's pretty clear I'm bad at chapter titles.


	8. Freedom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every finally gets the clear minds they've needed so badly.

Fleur stalked down the hallways. Any sound other than that of her boots terrified her, and she was looking around frantically. Edun had followed her advice, thankfully, and had ran out of the Belfort. Presumably also outside the city, but she wasn’t sure. Evelijne had assured her that they would make sure he got out safe. And now, it was time for part two of this incredibly stupid plan.

The jails were dark. On the chair meant for the stationed guard sat the new recruit that had handed her the note earlier that day. Slowly and silently, she drew her sword, and hit him on the head with the backside, effectively knocking him out. 

“I’m sorry.” She whispered to the guard, now lying on the floor. Fleur kicked him aside and stepped over his body. He didn’t deserve it, but it was better than outright killing him, as he was just a newbie and didn’t have anything to do with all this.

There weren’t many prisoners, and Frederic’s cell was the closest. Fleur was afraid of this interaction. She’d actually have to talk to him first. He wouldn’t be happy about what happened. The fortified door was intimidating, but she was slowly getting over her fear of doors. She opened it, careful not to let it creak. Frederic was half sitting, half lying, with his side pressed against the wall as to not hurt his back. 

“Psst.” Fleur whispered, as she stepped into the cell. Frederic shot up. Fleur immediately dropped her sword, to show him she meant no harm. He looked at the falling sword, and then back up at Fleur.

“What are you doing here. You’re not on shift.” He grumbled.

“I need to talk to you, Frederic, but we don’t have much time. Count Olaf is after me, I’m afraid.” She whispered back, looking back at the door.

“Why.”

Fleur looked confused at what he meant for a second, before the realization hit. “Yes, about that. That’s what I wanted to talk about.” She paused, and Frederic mentioned for her to continue. “I… Well, let’s start at the beginning. I went to drink at the bar, I was hoping for a coma, but I was called to Olaf, and I tried to lie, but, long story short, I told Olaf about Edun.” He stood up, and walked as far towards her as the chains allowed him.

“You don’t seem like you regret it, Fleur. Are you here to pick me up for Edun’s punishment?” He spat at her, causing Fleur to walk back towards the wall. She smiled apologetically.

“No, I don’t think so. I- I’m still a bit confused as to what’s happening, but I told Edun to run, I’m here to get you out and I’m probably going to die.” She spoke quickly, panic setting in. This day was becoming an emotional rollercoaster. Frederic was still mad, but turned around, seemingly to look at the window.

“Cut me loose then.” he finally said, softly. Fleur slowly picked up her sword.

“Do you… Do you trust me? Do you trust me enough to let me near you with a sword?” She whispered.

“No. I don’t trust you any further than I can throw you, but let’s get this over with. I need to see Edun.”

“Alright then.” Carefully, she cut open his bindings. They had left a red mark on his wrists from how tight they had been, and Frederic immediately started rubbing the marks. He then turned around and pushed Fleur against the wall, and removed her sword from her hands. He was obviously lost for words, as he stayed silent for a few moments.

“Thanks.” he finally said.

“Do you think you can forgive me, someday?” Fleur whispered as she opened up the door, and Frederic wasn’t sure if she was actually talking to him. He turned towards her, seeing her pick up her sword again.

“Maybe someday,” He hesitated, before finishing his sentence. “castle-girl.” Fleur looked up at the use of her nickname, but Frederic was already looking outside if no one was waiting for him there.

“Just go, before Count Olaf gets here. He probably knows what I’m doing.” Fleur sighed, and Frederic nodded. Without saying another word, he left the jail cells, walking as fast as his injuries allowed. Fleur sat down on the floor, sword in her hands. She couldn’t escape with him, as that would result in the both of them getting caught. The boots approaching announced her fate.

“Fleur van de Kooij, get out of there, right now.” Olaf's booming voice echoed through the long hallway. Fleur got up, clutching her sword in both of her hands. Slowly, she turned into the hallway. To her surprise, Olaf was alone. His presence did seem to fill the entire hallway, but Fleur aimed her sword at him anyway.

“What do you think you’re doing.” He said, sounding calm, but the anger was seeping through the weak facade.

Fleur hesitantly walked backwards. “This has all been a big fucking mistake, and I’m fixing it, sir.”  Olaf laughed, dark and hollow.

“Mistakes, hmm? See, mistakes are things like lying to me, barging into a meeting, or protesting one of my decisions. I'm willing to overlook those, every now and then, as long as you apologize. But refusing a direct order, aiding a prisoner's escape, and then pointing a sword at me? That’s not a mistake, miss Van de Kooij.” He unsheathed his own sword. “That's downright treason.”

Fleur managed to block his first attack, but he was quick. He blocked every single one of her offenses, and before Fleur could even begin to realize what he was doing, her sword flew out of her hands. Her eyes widened. He was way better at sword fighting than she was. She turned around to run, but two guards stood behind her, and they grabbed her by her arms. She was still struggling when Olaf grabbed her face.

“Underestimating me was also quite a big mistake, but it's a little late to apologize for that.” He took a step back and addressed the guards holding her. “Just throw her in. I won't wait too long with her.”

* * *

 

Edun finally sat down in the field. He had been running for a while, and he was exhausted. The sun was still high, and it made him realize not much time had passed. It was unbelievable how much could happen in one day. Evelijne and Leon had opened up a secret passageway for him, allowing him to escape without being seen by anyone. Edun leaned back into the tall grass. He recognized these fields. The last time he had spoken Frederic outside of jail, it had been here. He lied down and let the positive memories flood over him, causing him to fall asleep.

When he woke up, the sun hadn’t moved much. He shot up, looking around frantically. The fields were still as empty as they had been before. When he stood up though, he could see a small figure in the distance. The person was limping, obviously struggling with walking. Edun took a careful step backwards, trying to see whether or not this person was dangerous. When the figure spotted him, they ducked down into the grass.

“Right…” He whispered, looking down at his uniform. “At least they’re not here for me.” He walked a little towards the person, who didn’t move an inch.

“Hey! Who’s there!” He called out. The person shot up.

“Edun? Oh, thank god, Edun, is that you?” Edun recognized the voice. When the person came closer, he almost cried. It was Frederic, alive and well. They both fell onto the ground when Frederic jumped him, hugging him tightly. Luckily for Frederic, Edun landed on the bottom. 

“I missed you so much.” Frederic sighed, his voice muffled, because his face was shoved into Edun’s shoulder. “I thought you were a guard, looking for me.”

“To be honest, I thought the same.” They hugged for a while longer, until Frederic gave him a kiss on the nose. They both grinned, and sat up.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” Frederic mumbled. 

Edun sighed, but it was a happy one. A sigh of relief, because they were both together, and safe. Suddenly, he realized something.

“What about Leon and Evelijne? Aren’t they in trouble too? They must’ve been seen by someone, they helped me escape!” Frederic cursed under his breath. He hadn’t thought of that, even though he remembered to tell them where he was heading.

“Olaf will probably be too busy hunting Fleur down. At least, I hope so.” He finally said. Edun hummed in agreement, slightly calmed down. It was a little mean of Frederic to say that, but he was right: Fleur was a bigger criminal at the moment.

They cuddled together for a while longer, and Edun took off his jacket to give to Frederic, who was still shirtless. Chatting and kissing, they didn’t notice the time fly by, until it had become rather late. Edun stood up first, offering his hand to Frederic, who looked at him in confusion, until Edun nodded at the slowly setting sun.

“We should probably go. My uncle lives nearby, we can go there. He’ll have a place to stay for us.” Edun nodded, and together, they walked the entire way.

* * *

 

Leon was pacing back and forth. This whole thing had been stressing him out. It was slightly more chilly outside than normal, it seemed like, and having to walk up and down the gate the whole day wasn’t helping. Evelijne was sitting down, lost in her thoughts. She missed the falcon flying overhead, but Leon did not.

“Eef, look! He’s onto us, I’m telling you!” He yelled, scaring Evelijne out of her trance. She followed his finger and spotted the falcon. Sighing, she stood up.

“Leon, calm down. He’s not coming for us. He’s probably looking for Edun or Frederic. God, I hope they’re safe though.” She whispered the last part, a silent plea for their safety. Leon looked back at her, walked over to her, and shook her.

“Are you out of your mind? Of course they’re not safe, they’re in constant danger, and so are we! Fuck, why did we have to get wound up in all this? We should’ve just stayed at home, the party wasn’t worth it.”

“We both know that us not going to the party wouldn’t have stopped this from happening.”

Leon sat down, looking peeved. This entire ordeal had made him tired, and he couldn’t focus while he was tired. Yet this was the exact moment a mistake could be problematic.

“So, Leon…” Evelijne started, placing her hand on his shoulder. “What are we going to do? Do you want to stay here, or leave? Chase Edun and Frederic?”

“I don’t think we should stay here, to be completely honest. I loved my job, but now, I don’t want to be associated with the Count anymore. Besides, do you really want to stay here and wait for him to punish us too? I know we’re at the bottom of his list right now, but as soon as he gets there…” Leon dragged a thumb across his throat. Evelijne nodded thoughtfully.

“Can we leave Fleur behind though? I mean, hasn't she redeemed herself?”

The question baffled Leon. He wanted to start yelling, about how of course they could leave her, but something stopped him.

“Redemption, my ass. I don’t think I can ever befriend her again, Eef. We had fun times together, but she really fucked that all up, in my opinion. So yes. I think I can.” Leon said, hesitantly.

Evelijne stood up. “Leon, you’ve been friends since you were six. I don’t care about the fact that I’m your new ‘Bestie’ now, she’s trying her best. I know she’s been a fuckhead, trust me, I fully agree. But can you honestly, and with good conscience, leave her here? If she hasn’t been thrown in jail yet, she will be soon. She freed a prisoner from jail, for fuck’s sake.”

Leon sighed. “You’re right. We shouldn’t leave yet. Let’s just wait and see for now, okay?”

They sat in silence for a while longer, ignoring their patrol duty. The cold was manageable, but the wind was a lot worse. Evelijne handed Leon a piece of bread, and together, they ate some late lunch, enjoying the view. 

Suddenly, the view was disturbed. A young guard, probably a delivery boy, came running towards them.

“Squad leader Leon Stuivenberg!” The kid shouted, and Leon shushed him.

“Calm down, kid. I’m right here. What’s it you want?” He sighed, standing up, and brushing the crumbs off his jacket. Evelijne snickered.

“Count Olaf requests you to gather your squad and come to the courtyard immediately!” Leon looked at the young guard. He seemed genuinely excited to report and deliver his message, smiling proudly. Leon didn’t think the boy knew what the message contained, so he put on a fake smile and took the letter from his hand. Quickly, he scanned through it.

After reading it, he turned to the boy. “Do you know what this is about?”

“No, sir. I'm merely here to deliver.”

“Figures.” Leon grumbled. “Well, you've done your job. Better hurry off to the other squad leaders now, kiddo.” 

He looked at the letter a few more times, before giving up with a loud sigh. Annoyed, he showed the empty piece of paper to Evelijne, who immediately burst out into laughter.

“What's that even supposed to mean?” she hiccupped. Leon stared at the empty letter for a while longer, before sitting down next to her, pulling his hand through his hair.

“It means he didn't have enough time to write out letters, or even run it by Korda. Or even to fool the ones of us who can't read by just making some scribbles.” Evelijne immediately stopped laughing, and looked at Leon in confusion.

“Which can't be a good thing.” he finally sighed.


	9. Reunited

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: Violence, torture

The cell she had been thrown into was dark, not even a window to provide light for her. She could feel the cold floor underneath her body. Slowly, Fleur got up. She could feel she wasn't wearing her uniform anymore, having been stripped down to her tunic. Stretching her arms out, she tried to find a wall to pull herself up against.

Before she could even fully get up, the door opened. Fleur tried to lift her arms to block out the sudden light, but since they were tied, it didn't work the way she wanted it to. In walked two younger guards, with blank faces. Behind them stood Olaf, not willing to enter the jail cell. In the distance, Fleur could make out the sound of someone running towards them.

“What is happening here?” Korda yelled, ignoring the annoyed look Count Olaf shot him. 

“I’m about to take the prisoner outside for her punishment, Korda. Isn’t that obvious?” He sighed, mentioning for the guards to grab Fleur.

“Sir, with all due respect, don’t you think this is a waste? I’ve held my mouth shut when it came to Frederic Verheij, but twice? And Fleur van de Kooij is a perfectly well-behaved Guard as well. Besides that, don’t I have any say in this discussion concerning my Guards?” Korda was looking mad, and Fleur snickered silently.

“No, Korda, you don’t.” Olaf drawled. “Besides, you are under my command. Don’t try to speak against me like this ever again, or there will be consequences for you too.” Olaf nodded to the guards holding Fleur, and he walked out, the Guards following him, and pulling Fleur along. She was still struggling, kicking and shouting.

“What are you doing!” Fleur yelled, and Olaf shot her a grin.

“Miss van de Kooij, would you please refrain from yelling at me? I do still require respect, even from traitors.” Fleur spat on the ground, and the angry Count continued walking, ignoring her further yelling.

As soon as they took the familiar turn towards the courtyard, Fleur realized what exactly was going to happen. 

“Fuck…” She whispered, and the Guards holding her seemed uncomfortable as well. Olaf didn’t even bother speaking this time, instead just telling the Guards to tie her up immediately. There was some angry whispering this time, but no one did anything.

“Once again, I’ve gathered every one here to attend a public punishment; this time that of Fleur van de Kooij, liar and traitor. She assisted in the escaping of Frederic Verheij and Edun van Eerden, both also considered traitors, and proceeded to attack me. However, while I would just have her receive the same punishment as mister Van Eerden would have, I’ve decided to get a little…” He paused, and stretched his arm out. “...Creative.”

As he said the last word, Grijsvalk landed on his outstretched arm. A muffled gasp went through the crowd. One of the guards unsheathed his sword and cut open her tunic, revealing her back. Fleur bit her lips.

“Grijsvalk, attack!” Olaf boomed, and the falcon flew into the air, screeching.

* * *

 

Leon knew it was going to be Fleur who was about to be dragged on the stage, but it still surprised him in a way. Evelijne voiced his thoughts perfectly.

“Well, if you're gonna get shit for the first time, at least do it well.” Leon snickered. He didn’t know exactly what he should do. In his eyes, Fleur had not proven herself. However, just like with Frederic, she was a friend, and this punishment was bullshit. He wasn't listening to the majority of Olaf's speech, but one detail stood out to him.

“She attacked him?” Leon whispered. Evelijne looked just as shocked as he was, and he let out a soft whistle, not audible over the soft buzzing from the crowd. “I didn’t think she'd go that far.” Evelijne nodded in agreement.

“But why didn't she just bail? She could've just left, couldn’t she?” Leon continued. Evelijne looked at him with confusion.

“Who knows. Maybe revenge?” She finally offered.

Both of them visibly cringed when Grijsvalk landed. It was about to get bloody, and neither of them could say they enjoyed seeing that happen to anyone. The first attack on her back only further confirmed this fact. Fleur let out a pained yelp when the claws of the bird ripped through her back, causing deep cuts to appear. The second attack followed, and a third attack. Leon could hear the screeches of pain coming from the stage, but he wasn’t focusing. Evelijne was, and turned around quickly, not willing to see yet another horrendous display. One thing Leon noticed is that Halina hadn’t come out, not even once.

Another attack, and Fleur yelled. “Fuck you!”. Olaf whistled, and Grijsvalk stopped attacking.

“You really should’ve thought your actions through beforehand, instead of cursing me out now.” As he said this, he lifted his arm up, and Grijsvalk shot down again.

“Well, this has been fun.” Leon muttered, as he watched Fleur’s back getting more and more mutilated. “But I think it’s time to stop this. Eef, are you with me?”

“With you on what?” Evelijne asked, her back still turned towards the stage, flinching at every yell.

“Well, Eef, I’m going to punch Count Olaf, preferably in the jaw, then cut down a bird, and kidnap a traitor. I might also kick a co-worker, but that might also be why I need you, because I can’t do all of those things at the same time, surprisingly enough. So, are you with me?” he murmured, laughing at Evelijne’s face, which was becoming paler every second. However, as soon as he was done talking, she shot him a grin.

“Absolutely.”

Together, they pushed through the crowd, ignoring both the offended huffs of their co-workers and the crying coming from the stage. Olaf didn’t notice them until they had almost reached him, and he grinned when they climbed up.

“I’d suggest you’d return to your places, mister Stuivenberg and miss Van Maaren.” He said, still with a grin. However, when Leon unhooked his sheath, and Evelijne unsheathed her sword, the grin fell. As soon as Grijsvalk came back down, Leon smacked the bird out of the sky in a single swoop, and then unsheathed his sword as well. Olaf, now obviously mad, did so too.

Fleur, who had been bracing herself for the next attack, turned her head at the sound of the bird falling onto the stage. “What’s happening?” she whispered. To her surprise, Olaf caught it.

“Well, your two friends are currently committing an act of treason, but I’m going to see this as a mistake, and give them a second chance.” His voice was loud, and the entire crowd could hear it. Everyone was silent, not sure what to do. The two guards on the stage were looking at each other in confusion. Evelijne didn’t respond, but walked over to Fleur and carefully cut her loose.

“That was your second chance.” Olaf spoke, and he walked over to Evelijne, but before he could reach her, Leon kicked him in the shin. Olaf turned around and swung his sword at Leon, but he dodged, and Evelijne kicked Olaf in the back of his knee from behind, causing him to drop to his knees. The two guards hesitantly drew their swords, but Evelijne swiftly turned around to aim her sword at them. 

Olaf was slowly getting back up again, but Leon punched him straight in the jaw, causing the Count to topple over backwards. From the crowd, a few cheers could be heard.

“That felt extremely satisfying.” he whispered to himself, before shouting to Evelijne. “Get Fleur, I think it’s time to leave.” Evelijne nodded and helped Fleur up, throwing one of Fleur’s arms around her shoulder and dragging her down the stairs that led to the stage. All of their co-workers stared at them, not sure what to think. However, the crowd parted for them, allowing them to leave.

On the stage, Olaf had gotten back up. “Get these traitors! Guards, attack, or you’ll be marked traitors yourself!” Some Guards unsheathed their swords, but no one actually moved.

“Maybe you should’ve thought your actions out beforehand as well, sir.” Leon spat back, and they ran into the Belfort, dragging Fleur along.

* * *

 

Edun had been walking around the little house all evening. It was calm in the fields, as there weren’t many patrols out here. However, he still felt nervous. After all, they had left everyone behind. After a while of walking he sat down on a little wall. The sun had started to set, and the fields were turning a bright orange. The view was gorgeous, but the city of Raveleijn loomed in the background, giving him shivers. 

Frederic walked out of the house, carrying two mugs in one hand and some bread in the other. Spotting Edun on the wall, he sat down next to him.

“It’s dinner for tonight. My uncle couldn’t prepare anything good on such short notice, as he still had to farm. He does expect you to help tomorrow.” Frederic said with a smile, handing the drink and half of the loaf to Edun.

“Of course I will, that’s no problem. After all, he saved our lives.” Edun sighed, and turned towards Frederic. “And thank you.” he added, causing Frederic to laugh.

“Don’t thank me, love. Thank my uncle, thank Leon and Eef, hell, maybe thank Fleur, but not me.” Edun smiled, and kissed Frederic on the cheek.

“Thank you.” he insisted, and Frederic poked him between the ribs. Together, they watched the sun set. Now that the sun was gone, it was getting colder. 

“Do you want to go inside?” Edun asked, but Frederic shook his head.

“I’ll get some capes for us.” He offered, and walked inside.

In the distance, coming from the city, Edun saw torches. They were faint flickers, and didn’t seem to move very fast. However, it still gave him shivers. He ran after Frederic, and grabbed a pitchfork that was standing outside, next to the door. As he did this, Frederic came walking out with the capes, and they locked eyes.

“What do you need that for? Late night farming is not really what my uncle meant, you know.” Edun sighed, and pointed to the city. Spotting the torches, Frederic’s eyes widened, and he nodded.

“Ok, I see. I’m going to need- Wait.” He paused. “Edun, it’s after dark, and Guards don’t leave the city after dark. Besides, they’re moving incredibly slow, and I think one of them isn’t even carrying a torch. Those guys can never be Guards, it’s just impossible.” Edun sighed. His reasoning was correct, but this wasn’t really the time for these kind of thoughts.

“Fred, please. More unusual stuff than this has happened in the past few days. Let’s just be careful and grab something to defend ourselves if they’re dangerous.”

“But if you think they’re dangerous, Edun, why not just go inside? Frederic asked, seemingly humoured by his friend’s antics.

“Because I want to know who they are.” Edun responded and he walked towards the road, pitchfork forward.

The people didn’t stop moving, they only slowed down every now and then. Edun could now make out the silhouettes in the torchlight, revealing three people. One of them was significantly taller than the other two, and the middle person was being dragged along. The two people carrying the third were wearing full black, and the middle one was wearing brown rags. 

“Frederic? I think they’re two guards and a prisoner.” Edun whispered. Frederic, who had sat down on a wall a little behind Edun, shot up.

“Why would they be here? There’s no prison near- oh. Oh my god, Edun, put your pitchfork down!” The last part was said with such happiness that Edun looked confused. 

“What are you talking about?”

“You said two Guards and a prisoner, right? Edun, think! I told Leon and Evelijne where we were going! Look, can’t you see?” He dashed into the house, grabbed a torch and quickly walked out again.

“Hey! Over here!” He shouted, and Edun put his hand over Frederic's mouth.

“Are you crazy? It could be anyone!” 

The figures had already heard them, and the tallest one carefully let go of the prisoner, and ran towards them. Edun could barely make out Leon’s face before he was slammed down into a ground, forced to let go off the pitchfork, and pulled into a group hug. The other two, who he could now recognize as Evelijne and Fleur, slowly approached. Evelijne was laughing, and even Fleur let out a smile.

“Fuck, I’m glad you’re here! You all made it!” Frederic cheered, getting up and hugging Evelijne as well.  Leon laughed, and patted his shoulder, careful not to touch his back. Edun was staring at Fleur, her tunic ripped. He grabbed a pail of water that had been standing next to the wall, and in one smooth motion, threw the water over her back, in order to calm down her back and wash away some blood, but soaking her in the process.

“What the fuck!” She screamed.

“Man, it has been an exhausting day. Can we come in?” Leon said, laughing at the yelps.

“Absolutely!” Frederic responded. 

“As long as you help on the farm as well.” A voice came from inside. Frederic’s uncle was standing in the doorway, smiling at the reunion of the five friends. Frederic laughed, and walked over to his uncle, giving him a hug as well.

“Thank you for harbouring traitors.” he said with a smile, and waved over to the others, telling them to come in.

As Leon walked by, he whispered into Frederic’s ear. “I punched Olaf.” Evelijne burst out into laughter again, and Fleur smiled nervously, water dripping down her face.

“You’re gonna have to tell me all about that.” Frederic laughed. “But first, let’s have a drink.”

Leon cheered. “To traitors!”


	10. Epilogue

Five months had passed since they all left the city. The backs of Fleur and Frederic healed, and only scars were left. Every single one of them had spent most of their days working on the farm, helping Frederic’s uncle out. Not many Guards had come by at first, and the ones that did, either ignored them or didn’t notice them. After the first four months, the patrols had doubled. Then, after a while, there were just no guards anymore.

It had been three days since the complete and total disappearance of the patrols. Fleur was sitting outside in the field, picking up leftover pieces of grain and putting them in her apron. Winter was approaching soon, and they needed all the food they could get. Suddenly, five riders approached. They were wearing bright colours, accented with gold.

“Hi!” The brown one said, cheerfully. Fleur waved her hand awkwardly. He was obviously a noble, yet he talked to her as if they had been friends forever. The green rider got off his horse, sighing and shaking his head.

“I’m sorry, ma’am.” Fleur bowed, and nervously looked back up. “My name is Maurits, and these are my siblings, Thomas, Emma, Lisa, and Joost.” The brown rider, Joost, waved again. “And we’re here because-”

“Geez, Mau, stop before you bore the farm-girl to death. Hi, I’m Thomas, and we’re here to arrest you and your friends inside the house, ‘cus you’re guards. Got it?” Fleur’s eyes widened.

“I’m sorry, what? We’re not guards, this is a misunderstanding!” she said, trying to remain calm. 

“No, the sweet lady, uhm, Hanilla, told us you were here! And that we needed to find you!” The green rider, Maurits, shot a smile while the two other riders, still on their horses, burst out in laughter. The red rider, Thomas, unsheathed his sword, looking annoyed.

“Look, just get your friends, don’t get mad, and come with us.”

Fleur ran inside. Everyone was sitting in the living room, cleaning tools or sorting food. She stopped in the doorway, panting and breathing heavily.

“What’s up, castle-girl? Seen a spider?” Leon asked. Fleur responded with an angry glare, and pointed to outside.

“All of you, get up.” Slowly, everyone stood up and walked outside. Evelijne was the first to reach the doorway, but quickly walked back, causing her to walk into Leon and Frederic, bumping them backwards.

“What’s that fo-” Leon paused, as he stared into the five weapons aimed at them.

“Well, shit.”

* * *

 

Halina was pacing back and forth in the throne room. Olaf, the real Olaf, not the impersonator who had been posing as him for the past five years, was sitting on his chair, letting the sunlight fall through the window, onto his face. Every so often, a shadow passed over him, indicating his wife passing by.

“Halina, honey, if these five riders are worthy of the trust you’ve put into them for the last year, then they won’t do them any harm.” Halina sighed, and sat down next to Olaf, leaning her head on his shoulder. 

“I’m just glad you’re back.” She whispered, and Olaf squeezed her hand. 

“Let’s get outside. We have a ton of criminals to apologize to.” He said with a smile.

The crowd was filled with sad looking men and women, all wearing normal clothes, no uniform in sight. Olaf sighed as he looked over them. He was conflicted. These men and women had given everything to protect the city, but for all the wrong reasons. 

Without warning, ten more people entered the courtyard. He had heard about them, the traitors, who had abandoned their job and threatened the fake count. The five riders who were guiding them in politely nodded at him, and walked backwards, to the back of the courtyard. The other five, the guards Halina had asked them to find, tried to blend in with the crowd. Halina noticed, and quickly walked towards them.

“Please, come onto the stage with me.” She asked, and walked back, with the five friends following her. Olaf cleared his throat.

“Dear citizens, and past Guards of Raveleijn. I, first and foremost, want to say I’m sorry, for all the terrible things you’ve been pushed into doing by my impersonator. However, as you know and realize, this doesn’t mean every one of you is pardoned, as most of you did this out of free will.” He turned towards the five on the stage. “The five of you have gone against the rules, but you still have done terrible things. I am sorry, for what happened to you.” Everyone was silent.

“I have decided to offer each of you a deal. You all get to keep your job as Guards, but this time, without the evil-doing and general misbehaviour. If you do not want this, then you will be sent to live outside of the city, without any further consequences.” A wave of relief went through the crowd. “If you want to keep your job, stay here, and Korda will take care of it. If you don’t, now would be the time to leave.” He ended his speech, and turned around, not paying attention to what the crowd was doing. Quite a few seemed to leave.

“For the five of you, I have nothing else to say than sorry.” 

Frederic was the first to kneel down. “I would be honoured to join the Guard once again, sir.” The others followed shortly after, all kneeling and bowing. Olaf seemed a little confused, but Halina’s smile almost split her face in half.

“Oh, I’m so glad that you’re all okay!” Halina cheered, and she pulled them all into a hug, Olaf included. Edun smiled.

“Thank you for having us back, ma’am.”


End file.
